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7 thoughts on “What we are reading”

And since I expect you to track what you are reading – I just finished a fun sort of mystery – kind of reminiscent of Donald Westlake in that’s it’s really more of a funny caper story. The author said he was going for screwball comedy. Cold Storage Alaska by John Straley. I am starting Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie which I think I am going to like (and yes Greta – it is about 600 pages)

And it’s me back again because you aren’t posting. But I am reading one of the books recommended at the last session – My Venice and Other Essays by Donna Leon. I enjoy her mysteries and I have enjoyed Venice so decided to try it. It is absolutely delightful. The essays are very short some only a couple of pages – and amusing and intelligent and delightful. Highly recommended. Thank you Connie.

Just finished The Divorce Papers by Susan Rieger. This is a first novel for her and she is a divorce lawyer. The format of the book is epistolary – letters, memos and all the legal papers in a divorce case among the upper crust. The main character is a criminal lawyer in a large firm who has never handled a divorce and who has never quite recovered from her parent’s divorce when she was a teenager. She gets sucked into taking this case and it follows her through the case, including all of her personal relationships and the in-fighting inside the law firm. I loved the woman in the divorce case – she is a very funny take-no-prisoners combatant. All the memos back and forth explained what was going into the legal documents so I am not sure what value having them in the book added – but they are easily skipped. But I quite enjoyed the memos around them.

Have been reading some of the books from the NC book festival – a re-read of Going Away Shoes by Jill McCorkle – a short story collection that I love, The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg – a new author for me but I liked the book a lot, and am currently reading Plum Wine by Angela David-Gardner (another new author for me) which is set in Japan during the Vietnam War era and is the story of a relationship between an American woman and a Japanese man who was in Hiroshima when the bomb was dropped.

Just finished a book by Chris Pavone – The Accident. I read the earlier title Ex-Pats (which won the Edgar) and liked it very much. The premise of this one is that a book is about to be published that is so explosive that everyone who sees it has to be killed. At one point the people who are making copies for their own advancement was beginning to feel like a French farce but the author added a couple twists at the end I wasn’t expecting. I really like this author’s writing – someone I would read again.

Discovered a fun new mystery series by Colin Cotterill. His earlier series was set in Laos and featured an elderly coroner – the first book in that series is The Coroner’s Lunch. The new series is set in Thailand and the main character is a woman who was a police reporter until her mother sold the house they were living in and bought a run down tourist cottage in an isolated area. But – mystery writers can find bodies anywhere. The first book in this series is Death at the Whim of a Hat. Cotterill enjoys word play and each chapter is introduced by a quote from George W. Bush – we all remember what a wordsmith he was. The second book in this series is Grandad, There’s a Head on the Beach and each chapter is introduced with a line from a song that has been butchered by Thai singers who don’t know English. Cotterill’s website is amusing – check it out:

OK – I do believe in coincidences. I posted a few days ago about a book that I really loved – The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry – which is in the category of The Last Days of Major Pettigrew and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie society. A category that I would describe as about good people trying to do the right thing – and there is a happy ending. I don’t always think that life works out that way but occasionally I like it when a book does. So on to the coincidence. I got a book from Book Browse to review called Small Blessings by Martha Woodroof that not only falls into that category but has quite a bit in common with The Storied Life… There is a bookstore involved along with an unexpected child and if the good people are maybe a little too good, I’ll forgive them. Book is due out in August.